Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

40 reviews

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I don't even know where to begin talking about this book. I really didn't love it, but it was very engaging and intriguing, so that kept me reading. It's essentially a specific kind of "book candy" (it's not a good book, but it's compelling in a way I'm not sure I fully understand and makes me want to keep reading).  

This follows our main protagonist, Damen, a prince from Akielos whose father was killed and his half-brother sent him off to be a slave in a neighboring kingdom. His master is the cruel and cold prince of Vere, Laurent. What follows is a story of cruelty, survival, pain, political intrigue and cultural clashes. 

As I said above, I wasn't a huge fan of this book. I really enjoyed my time with it because of the plot and the politics. The characters aren't that loveable and I feel like we really don't know much about them by the end of the book. Plus the things Laurent put Damen through? That's a kind of trauma that doesn't sit right with me for any kind of relationship they form, even if it were to be resolved later. 

The amount of rape, CSA and torture is a lot and was really rough for me to read. 

Some people have said this is a sort of gay GoT and I can sort of see what they mean. 

All in all, I didn't love this, but it's intriguing enough for me to want to continue on. Definitely "book candy" for me.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

anghara94's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

brdiaz1123's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

sarahflies's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

mikeymara's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I am definitely reading the next books and buying them to own. This book is not for everyone as it does involve a lot of topics related to sex slavery and rape. It is also not the best for people who want a quick romance, this is more of a slow burn in some ways. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

A lot of sex based content aswell as rape and abuse. One of the main characters is a 10-14 year old in a relationship with an adult man. At some point in the story the main character is punish via wipping, it is vaguely graphic. There is some minor death of an animal, it is minor and can be skipped over. The main plot involves a description of the main characters kidnapping and transportation to Vere.

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, and War

kyliereads341's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

fudanshi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Incest

dragonbloom's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.75

This is a controversial book. After years of hearing from other people what I should think of the book, I decided to form my own opinion. 

I hated it. 

Fundamentally, I feel it is too horny to be an adventure story, but not horny enough to be erotica. My issues with the plot only compound it. 

Laurent, our love interest, is gifted Damen as a sex slave. The court he is surrounded with is hedonistic and sexual, with courtiers regularly having sex in public. 

Despite this, there is only one actual sex scene,

when Laurent has another sex slave force oral on a tied up Damen.

If you are looking for some dark erotica, perhaps find it elsewhere, this is lacking in sex. 

Despite ordering Damen’s abuse at the hands of his servants,

Laurent never personally lays hands on him.

I can only assume, as

we are supposed to find him more forgivable than if he had personally beaten and raped Damen. I do not. Rape fetish fiction is not my thing, but I understand people like it. However, it would be nice if we didn’t pretend the abuser is not an abuser, as he abuses by proxy.

I found the story predictable. On several occasions, the chapter would end with Laurent dramatically informing the ever oblivious Damen something I had guessed chapters ago, much to Damen’s shock. In these moments, he comes off, not unfamiliar with the venomous court of a foreign land, but stupid. 

The regent’s, who’s name escapes me, “pet”,

a 13 year old boy, plotline, feels a lazy effort to make Laurent look better in comparison to his uncle. “Oh, sure, he’s a violent abuser, but look! He’s not a child molester!” I have not read further, but I suspect Laurent was molested by him also. Just a guess.

Regardless, the pedophilia is not romanticised, but is not handled with the sensitivity such a… Well, sensitive, topic demands. 

The only thing I can give the book credit for is consistent characterisation, and good use of showing instead of telling. 

If you like slow burn, abusive noncon fanfiction, this is probably the book for you. For me? God, no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide

Much of the book is spent musing on the beauty of, specifically pale, skin.